Matt Mitrione
Matt "Meathead" Mitrione is a former NFL player and currently a heavyweight mixed martial arts prospect. He is - and has been - the favorite to win the prestigious 2018 Bellator heavyweight title grand prix. The UFC Matt most recently defeated Joey Beltran via unanimous decision, showing immense improvement. He next faced off against Tim Hague, winning via vicious first round knockout and showing even MORE improvement. He next faced fellow up-and-comer Christian Morecraft, defeating Morecraft via second-round knockout. A few weeks after the fight, a fan on Twitter suggested that Mitrione should face fellow prospect Stefan Struve. Mitrione and Struve reportedly "went back and forth" on Twitter and the fight was rumored to be agreed to. Struve stated that the fight "sounds good to me." Mitrione jokingly asked Struve if they would let him bring a stepstool into the cage. Struve replied that they would get some nice heels for Matt. Mitrione instead signed to face veteran Cheick Kongo, losing a close and controversial unanimous decision for his first loss. He was next rumored to face Strikeforce veteran and UFC newcomer Chad Griggs. Nothing ever came of the rumored Griggs fight. Mitrione was next rumored to welcome former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia back to the Octagon. Instead Mitrione next stepped in to replace Strikeforce veteran Antonio Silva against his Ultimate Fighter season ten castmate (and the season's eventual winner) Roy Nelson. It was without a doubt the biggest opportunity of Mitrione's career to that point. Unfortunately, the fight did not materialize and Mitrione was next set to face British brawler Rob Broughton. That fight did not materialize either. Mitrione next stepped in to replace injured TUF coach Shane Carwin against his own Ultimate Fighter castmate Roy Nelson at the TUF season sixteen finale in December 2012. Nelson knocked Mitrione out in the fight's first round. Mitrione next signed in February 2013 to face Philip De Fries in Sweden. Mitrione defeated De Fries by bizarre nineteen second knockout. Two days later on Monday, April 8th, 2013, Mitrione called transgender mixed martial artist Fallon Fox a "lying, sick, sociopathic, disgusting freak" and was suspended from his UFC contract by Zuffa afterwards. Mitrione's suspension didn't seem to last long as near the end of April 2013 he signed to return to face his Ultimate Fighter castmate, a finalist Brendan Schaub. Despite having been teammates on the show on Rashad Evans's team, the two verbally sparred on Twitter before the fight. "Planned parenthood should stop giving out birth control & start giving out copies of @BrendanSchaub 's 15 min. dry humping of Lavar Johnson," Mitrione wrote to Schaub at length. ""Don't count on seeing @BrendanSchaub on the Maury Povich show anytime soon. Cuz after we fight next month, he'll know exactly who his dad is," he continued. Mitrione was unfortunately injured and the fight was postponed. It was rescheduled and Schaub won via D'arce choke submission in the first round, choking Mitrione unconscious. Several months later Mitrione signed in January 2014 to fight Strikeforce veteran Shawn Jordan at the start of March 2014 in China. Mitrione knocked out Jordan with a second left in the first round. Mitrione signed in May 2014 to fight veteran jiu jitsu ace Stefan Struve. The fight was unfortunately postponed on the night of the event with Struve suffering a fainting spell in the locker rooms. Mitrione quickly signed to fight prospect Derrick Lewis. He knocked out Lewis much less than a minute into the fight. Despite next calling out Andrei Arlovski, Mitrione wasted little time in next signing to fight veteran Gabriel Gonzaga. He knocked out Gonzaga in the first round. Mitrione next fought Ben Rothwell, unfortunately losing via first round guillotine choke submission before next losing via a controversial third round TKO to Travis Browne. After appealing the loss which was the last fight on his UFC contract, Mitrione seemed to decide that it was time for him to move on, to.. Bellator MMA In March 2016 Mitrione signed with the UFC's competitor Bellator MMA and also reportedly netted a commentating deal with the new contract. Mitrione's first fight would come against fellow newcomer and relative unknown Carl Seumanutafa. After getting hurt early Mitrione managed to come back and score a first round knockout over Seumanutafa. Mitrione wasted no time in signing for his next fight with Oli Thompson knocking out Thompson towards the end of the second round of a competitive fight. In November 2016 it was announced that Mitrione would fight mixed martial arts legend and Bellator newcomer Fedor Emelianenko in February 2017. Unfortunately the fight was canceled right before because Mitrione was suffering from several serious kidney stones. The fight was rescheduled for June 2017 at Bellator's biggest event of the year, in Madison Square Garden. The two men connected with a dazing blow at the exact same moment and both dropped from them. Mitrione merely recovered more quickly and pounced on Emelianenko, knocking him unconsciously with grounded strikes. It was easily the biggest win of Mitrione's career to that point and undoubtedly put him at the forefront of the lengthening path to the vacant Bellator heavyweight title. 2018 Grand Prix Instead, Mitrione signed to participate in the 2018 heavyweight title grand prix. He drew past opponent Roy Nelson. Roy had knocked Mitrione out back in the UFC, five years before. This time Mitrione defeated Nelson via a hard-fought unanimous decision. Mitrione next advanced to fight current Bellator light-heavyweight champion Ryan Bader in the semifinals. Fights *Matt Mitrione vs. Kimbo Slice - Mitrione came into the fight undefeated. After the fight, Kimbo Slice was cut from the UFC. Mitrione broke his foot during the fight. *Matt Mitrione vs. Joey Beltran *Matt Mitrione vs. Tim Hague - The fight was Tim Hague's third return to the UFC. *Cheick Kongo vs. Matt Mitrione - The fight was the first loss for Mitrione. *Roy Nelson vs. Matt Mitrione -http://mmabouts.wikia.com/wiki/Matt_MitrioneMitrione was a late replacement for an injured Shane Carwin. *Matt Mitrione vs. Phil De Fries *Matt Mitrione vs. Shawn Jordan - Shawn Jordan was more than likely cut from the UFC after the fight. *Matt Mitrione vs. Travis Browne - The fight was Mitrione's last with the UFC. *Matt Mitrione vs. Carl Seumanutafa - The fight was the Bellator debut of both men but particularly of UFC veteran Matt Mitrione. *Matt Mitrione vs. Oli Thompson Category:Heavyweight fighters Category:NFL players Category:Bellator fighters